Sunday, September 27, 2009

Indeed, the conditions this morning were similar to yesterday although even colder and more bleak.It was blustery and barely 6deg with an even colder wind chill factor - not at all pleasant at the Vets' Handicap run this morning. For very brief moments during the hilly run the sun peeped through and there was a little warmth but it didn't last and after the run I became freezing again very quickly. However, it is always good to catch up with all my running buddies and see people I only see at those monthly runs.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

I faced the elements, wore 3/4 leggings, a t-shirt and spray jacket and took off into the wind at about 9.45am. Boy, it was cold. Where has spring gone this weekend? Tomorrow's forecast is much the same - nasty!

I ran from home past the AIS into the city where I turned left and ran along a hilly Dryandra St at the back of O'Connor Ridge and back home via O'Connor and Lyneham. I was caught in a shower of rain a few times and had to battle a head wind other times and when the wind came on the uphills it felt like I was barely moving. I didn't take off my spray jacket at all but when the sun peeped through very briefly I did unzip it a little! Tomorrow's vets' handicap run will be interesting!

Total distance: 10km

Time taken: 1:05

Average pace per km: 6:30

Calories burned: 592

Photos from speedygeese dinner: Craig and Neil; Yelena and Ken; Neil and Peter. All these speedygeese will probably be at the vets' run tomorrow.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The oval wasn't open tonight which meant there were no lights and the toilet block remained closed. In spite of the sudden cold change it was quite reasonable weather wise and we had enough natural light to see our way around the track.

We ran a long lap followed by a short lap as a warmup. Our main set was: 200m fast 200m slow, 400m fast, 400m slow, 600m fast, 600m slow, 400m fast, 400m slow, 200m fast/slow, 400m fast/slow and 200m fast/slow. We then did one more cooldown lap.

Total distance: 10.8km

Then to finish off Janene produced an enormous chocolate cake with cheesecake inside - just magnificent! This was to celebrate three recent birthdays in our group - Brett, Heidi and Bronwyn's 40th and also the fact that tonight is our last session at Dickson for the season. Next Thursday is the first week of track.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

This morning I did an RPM class followed by an abs class at the gym and after work I joined Chris, Andy and Jen at Parliament House for a training run. The strong winds from earlier in the day had eased and the rain never eventuated. In spite of the storms of the last two nights and the dreadful dust storm that hit Canberra yesterday it was a very pleasant evening and I really enjoyed the run even when Andy and I lost the others and ran back to the start a slightly different way due to serious lack of direction from both of us!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Last night instead of training we had a speedygeese dinner at La Capanna in Kingston. Only 16 of us attended but it was lots of fun. We arrived home just before a huge storm struck. I went for a run again after work this evening and home just before another storm and at this moment I can hear huge claps of thunder outside which probably means I should turn off the computer!

However, I will just record the stats first as it was only a short run tonight.Total distance: 6.03kmTime taken: 35:56Average pace per km: 5:58Calories burned: 350

Monday, September 21, 2009

Today, Monday, I have just been for a 15km run from home and round the lake. Tonight is the speedygeese dinner so there is no official training session. It has been a lovely day in Canberra today but now there are threatening black clouds on the horizon.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Having been gallivanting once again, this time in Noosa and the Gold Coast, in stunning weather, it is now time I returned to some serious training and healthy eating habits. CJ and I joined Mr B at Noosa for four days before driving on to the Gold Coast. I ran and walked every day in Noosa on lots of hills and undulations and the weather, shopping and coffee was fantastic. Then on to the Gold Coast for a week - lots more running and walking but this time on the flat - no hills whatsoever.

The world triathlon championships were great. Mr B took part in the age group championships and was placed 31st out of 43 in his age group. His cycle and run were really good but his swim let him down. However, the whole experience was fun and we enjoyed the social activities with him. My daughter joined us from Sydney for the weekend of the race and we all had a really good time.

I returned to Canberra late on Monday when Mr B then flew to Melbourne for a squash competition for the rest of the week and I returned to work and routine. I ran on Tuesday, returned to the gym for RPM and abs on Wed and to training on Thursday.

At training only four people turned up and we ran on the oval without lights against a nasty wind and threatening rain. In fact we just finished our session before the rain really came down - excellent timing. Craig led us as our speedy chief was on holidays. We had two warm up loops of the oval, one long, one short before our main session of 10 x 300m fast and 100m slow.

On Friday it was back to the gym for a Body Balance class and yesterday I ran an 8km run. Today we enjoyed a visit to floriade as spring has come to Canberra. It was really beautiful. Tomorrow the plan is for a long run and more constant blog entries. Yes, twoapples,I am alive!

About Me

I've been married 43 years, have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. We have two adult married daughters, one with a little girl of 18months, Penelope, and a married son with 12year old Talia and 8yr old Sam. Our youngest daughter and her husband live in Sydney.I was born in NZ but have lived in Canberra since 1981. I have retired from managing an Australian Apprenticeships Centre and am now loving working part-time at The Runners Shop. I started running in 1995. I prefer long distance running and have run 13 Canberra marathons, 1 Gold Coast marathon, 1 New York marathon, several half marathons and a number of triathlons. I ran my first Canberra marathon at age 50 and my 10th at 60 making me one of only 5 female Griffins in the ACT (ie having run 10 Canberra Marathons). I was happy to finish the Canberra Ultra Marathon (50km)in April 2006 in under 5 hours (4hrs 56mins). I also enjoy swimming, social cycling, exercising at the gym, travel and reading a good book. My husband David is officially retired. He keeps extremely fit training for triathlons. Favourite quote: carpe diem ("seize the day")